In this Feb. 5, 2019, photo, former Democratic Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke gestures as he describes how nervous he was meeting with former President Barack Obama during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

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2 months ago

Trump: O'Rourke Has 'Crazy' Hand Movements

Newser — Rob Quinn

If President Trump faces Beto O'Rourke in the general election, he apparently has two lines of attack ready: The Texan's hands and name. The president mocked the Democrat, who announced his candidacy in a video Thursday, for moving his hands too much, Politico reports.

"I've never seen so much hand movement," Trump told reporters. "I said: 'Is he crazy or is that just the way he acts?'" He added: "I've actually never seen anything quite like it. Study it. I’m sure you'll agree." Trump wouldn't comment on whether he saw O'Rourke or Joe Biden as the bigger threat, but said: "Whoever it is, I'll take him or her on."

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley, meanwhile, insisted that a Fox host refer to O'Rourke by his given name, Robert Francis, instead of Beto, Mediaite reports.

Gidley said Trump might use that line of attack on the campaign trail, and "why wouldn't he? That's his name." O'Rourke told reporters at a campaign stop in Burlington, Iowa, on Thursday that he had "nothing to say" about Trump's hand remarks, the Hill reports.

"I think people want us to rise above the pettiness, the smallness—they want us to be big, bold, ambitious for this country," he said. "That's what I'm focused on and that's what I see here today in Burlington."